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RATINGS:
Overall ****
CD1 is *** to ***** - CD2 is *****
Presentation *****
Mono and Stereo Audio *** to *****
"…If
You're Ready (Come Go With Me)…"
Like
most people I came across the Staple Singers through their fabulous run of Stax
and Curtom sides in the Seventies (although their career stretched back to
Gospel roots in the early Fifties). This impressive if not slightly maddening double CD by Ace
Records of the UK (using their Kent Soul logo) is a thorough 30-year deep-dive retrospective for one of the most underrated Soul acts of all time. 'Ultimate' even
includes four properly storming Previously Unreleased cuts and a chunky 28-page
fact-filled booklet with interviews, photos, period memorabilia, 45-single labels and LP artwork etc - pretty much typical of Ace's quality.
But - and despite my lifelong love of The Staples where I even feel like a bit of a ham saying anything negative about this legendary cross-the-barriers group - this particular 2CD compilation features rarities in one-off single sides, flips that haven't been on CD before and the occasional obscure album cut. And my point is that CD1 has an awkward listen because of it - especially the first 14 tracks that mostly cover their overtly Gospel years and that last clunker 'Solon Bushi' - a Japanese Folk Song that show have stayed in Tokyo. But outside of those personal reservations - it's pretty much joy-unto-the-rave fantastic - including four exclusives actually worthy of the moniker. Let's get into the details anyway...
UK
released September 2004 - "The Ultimate Staple Singers: A Family Affair
1953-1984" by THE STAPLE SINGERS on Ace/Kent Soul CDKEN2 240 (Barcode
029667224024) offers up 44 tracks across 2 CDs covering their record label
stays with United, Vee Jay, Riverside, Vanguard, Sharp, Epic, Stax, Curtom, Warner Brothers and Private I Records - with 4
previously unreleased thrown in.
Disc 1 deals with 1953 up to 1971 (including their rare one-off 1953 debut on United Records, Track 5) - while Disc 2 covers everything after that (mostly Seventies) up to Warner Brothers and Private Records in 1984. All songs credited to The Staple Singers except Five Solo Efforts highlighted as such. Here's a breakdown...
CD1: (76:05 minutes)
1.
Hammer And Nails (June 1962, US 45-single on Riverside R-4562, A-side)
2.
Nobody's Fault But Mine (1962 Riverside recording first issued 1973 in the USA on the Staple Singers compilation LP "Use What You Got" on Fantasy F-9423)
3.
Too Close (October 1960, US 45-single on Vee Jay VJ 893, B-side of "Pray On")
4.
Uncloudy Day (November 1956, US 45-single on Vee Jay VJ 224, A-side)
5.
Won't You Sit Down (Sit Down Servant) (December 1953, US Debut 45-single on United U-165, A-side)
6.
I Wish I Had Answered (Live Recording from the 1964 US Various Artists LP "Newport Folk Festival 1964 - Evening Concerts Vol.2" on Vanguard VRS-9185 in Mono)
7.
A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall (December 1965 US LP "This Little Light" on Vanguard Records RM 3527 in Mono - a Bob Dylan cover)
8.
Swing Low (August 1962, US 45-single on Vee Jay VJ 912, A-side)
9.
This May Be The Last Time (1960, US 45-single on Sharp 45-603, A-side)
10.
For What It's Worth (August 1967, Epic 5-10220, A-side - a cover of the Buffalo Springfield hit written by Stephen Stills)
11.
Be Careful Of The Stones You Throw (December 1964, December 1964 US 45-single on Epic 59748, B-side of "More Than A Hammer And Nail")
12.
Why (Am I Treated So Bad) (May 1967, US 45-single on Epic 5-10158, A-side - Produced by Larry Williams)
13.
It's Been A Change (November 1966, US 45-single on Epic 5-10114, B-side of "Pray On")
14.
Will The Circle Be Unbroken (1966 US LP "Why?" on Epic LN 24196 in Mono)
15.
The Ghetto (December 1968, US 45-single on Stax STA-0019, A-side - written by Homer Banks, Bonnie Bramlett and Bettye Crutcher)
16.
Long Walk To DC (August 1968, US 45-single on Stax STA-0007, A-side - written by Homer Banks)
17.
God Bless The Children (March 1970, US 45-single on Stax STA-0066, B-side of "Give A Damn" - 'God Bless The Children' is a Jimmy Holliday song)
18.
(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay (March 1969, US 45-single on Stax STA-0031, A-side - a cover version of the famous Otis Redding song)
19.
The Gardener (June 1968, US 45-single on Stax STA-0039, B-side of "The Challenge" - written by We Three - Produced by Steve Cropper, Guitarist with Booker T. & The MG's)
20.
When Will We Be Paid For The Work We Did (October 1969, US 45-single on Stax STA-0052, A-side - written by Randy Stewart of The Fiestas - Produced by Steve Cropper)
21.
Who Took The Merry Out Of Christmas (November 1970, US 45-single on Stax STA 0084, A-side - Produced by Al Bell)
22.
John Henry - ROEBUCK "POPS" STAPLES (Previously Unissued Stax Recording - a Traditional probably recorded in 1969)
23.
You're Gonna Make Me Cry (August 1971, US 45-single on Stax STA-0104, B-side of "Respect Yourself")
24.
Solon Bushi (from the 1969 US LP "We'll Get Over" on Stax STS 2016 in Stereo - a cover of a Japanese Folk Song)
NOTES on CD1:
Tracks 1 to 14 primarily feature their Gospel years with the Riverside, Vee Jay, Vanguard and Epic labels
Tracks
15 to 24 touch on the Stax issues from 1968 to 1971
Track 22 is PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
CD2 2: (78:14 minutes)
1. This World (July 1972, US 45-single on Stax STA-0137, A-side, Produced Al Bell)
2.
I Have Learned To Do Without You - MAVIS STAPLES (June 1970, US 45-single on Volt VOA-4044, A-side, Produced Don Davis)
3.
Respect Yourself (August 1971, US 45-single on Stax STA-0104, A-side - Written by Mack Rice and Luther Ingram)
4.
Tryin' Times - ROEBUCK "POPS" STAPLES (Previously Unissued Version of Stax STA-0064, a US 45-single issued March 1970, the B-side of "Black Boy" - Session Probably Included Donny Hathaway and Phil Upchurch)
5.
Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom Boom) (November 1970, US 45-single on Stax STA-0083, B-side of "Love Is Plentiful" - Produced by Al Bell)
6.
I'll Take You There (March 1972, US 45-single on Stax STA-0125, A-side)
7.
You've Got To Earn It (June 1971, US 45-single on Stax STA-0093, A-side)
8.
The Only Time You Ever Say You Love Me - MAVIS STAPLES (Previously Unissued Volt recording)
9.
Oh La De Da (Previously Unreleased Remixed Version of US 45-single Stax STA-0156, A -side without fake audience noises)
10.
If You're Ready (Come Go With Me) (September 1973, US 45-single on Stax STA-0173, A-side)
11.
City In The Sky (June 1974, US 45-single on Stax STA-0215, A-side)
12.
I Got To Be Myself
13.
Touch A Hand, Make A Friend (January 1974, US 45-single on Stax STA-0196, A-side)
14.
Trippin' On Your Love - MAVIS STAPLES (Recorded circa 1975, first appeared on the April 1981 US Staple Singers LP "This Time Around" on Stax MPS-8511)
15.
Let's Do It Again (October 1975, US 45-single on Curtom CMS 0109, A-side)
16.
New Orleans (January 1976, US 45-single on Curtom CMS 0113, A-side - Produced and Written by Curtis Mayfield)
17.
Love Me, Love Me, Love Me (October 1976, US 45-single on Warner Brothers WBS 8279, A-side - written by Curtis Mayfield)
18.
I Honestly Love You (Edit) (January 1978, US 45-single on Warner Brothers WBS 8510, A-side - Produced by Eugene Record of The Chi-Lites)
19.
Slippery People (August 1984, US 45-single on Private I Records ZS4 04583, A-side - a Talking Heads cover version)
20.
H-A-T-E (Don't Live Here Anymore) (April 1984, US 45-single on Private I Records ZS4 04384, A-side - Produced by Pervis Staples)
NOTES on CD2:
Tracks 4, 8 and 9 are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
Of the 20 singles they charted between 1971 and 1985 on the US Billboard R&B charts (group and solo) - an impressive 14 are here (on Disc 2) - they are "Heavy Make You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom Boom)" (1971), "You've Got To Earn It" (1971), "Respect Yourself" (1971), "I'll Take You There" (1972), "This World" (1972), "Oh La De Da" (1972), "If You're Ready (Come Go With Me)" (1973), "Touch A Hand, Make A Friend" (1973), "City In The Sky" (1974), "Let's Do It Again" (1975), "New Orleans" (1976), "Love Me, Love Me, Love Me" (1976) and "Slippery People" (1984). There's also the solo Mavis Staples torch ballad single "I Have Learned To Do Without You" from 1970.
CD1 opens with two righteous winners "Hammer And Nails" "Nobody's Fault But Mine" - but the B-side "Too Close" track might be rare but it is not great and the recording quality on the Vee Jay Gospel warbler "Uncloudy Day" sounds a lot like a hissy acetate. That is followed by their Jesus-Soul debut "Won't You Sit Down" on United Records in 1953 - another that feels like a home-recording and although I understand its historical importance - I prefer the Vanguard LP track "I Wish Had Answered" in all its warbling guitar and handclaps - lead vocals shared by Pops and Mavis - gorgeous quality for a Newport Folk Festival cut. Dylan’s Protest Song period in 1963 (featured so effectively in the film "A Complete Unknown") begins to attract the family when they cover his "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall" - Pops in the left speaker while Mavis and her Brother and Sister fill out the right. Back to Gospel with the carry-me-home Traditional of "Swing Low" done in a near instrumental-naked manner - their voices testifying while Pops plinks away on his lone guitar. Recording values again takes a dive with "This May Be The Last Time" - a rare US 45 on Sharp Records - but after the eight that have preceded it feels like a Heavenly Reach too far.
Better is the fantastic Stereo production values for their hip-and-happening cover of Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" - a truly great fit lyrically and musically for The Staple Singers in 1967 (how many people have covered this Stephen Stills classic). But again, we get another unnecessary B-side called "Be Careful Of Stones That You Throw" where Pops gets all spoken-preachy about nosey neighbours. But the listen is redeemed by the fantastic social-awareness of "Why Am I Treated So Bad?" - a young black girl trying to ride the bus to school - all alone as I sing this song - gorgeous audio too. Chug like Ike and Tina Turner for their calls to the President of the USA to keep his high-talking promises in "It's Been A Change" - Pops getting to let rip on his guitar while Mavis sings about staying in school and getting an education. Finally, their first period ends with Track 14 - taking their mum away in "Will The Circle Be Unbroken".
Instead of too-slow pace of "The Ghetto" - I would have started the Stax section with the stomping heart joy that fills every sexy bop-moment of "Long Walk To DC" - a Homer Banks song about going from Alabama to Washington to once again get a white President to pay attention to social injustice. Mavis sings with real passion during the Jimmy Holiday pleader "God Bless The Children" - a gorgeous marriage of Soul meets Gospel for all the right reasons. The tremendous audio continues with their cover of the Otis Redding classic "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay" - not my fave I would have to say but Mavis gives it such heft as she does everything, she gets her astonishing pipes around. So much better is the genuinely sweet Soul with Strings of the Stax gem "The Gardiner" - a B-side better than its A. Money and proper pay rises rears its boots-on-the-ground head for the superb "When Will We Be Paid For The Work We Did" - beat up, stoned, good to die in foreign wars but not good enough to share a water fossett, stripped of culture - the lyrics by Randy Stewart of the Doo Wop Group The Fiestas so on the money it hurts.
But then it hits - the first of four classy unreleased songs - number one credited to Pop Staples. The quality is shocking - how have these gems remained in the can until now? The Traditional song "John Henry" is given a harmonica/guitar driven John Lee Hooker boogie - its nearest approximation is "Keep On Chooglin'" by Creedence Clearwater Revival on The Paul Butterfield Blues Band circa 1965 - fabulous stuff. Although there are no charts to confirm, Rounce surmises that the band is the one used at Audio Finishers Studio in Chicago when Pops recorded the “Black Boy” and "Tryin' Times" single. Said to be Donny Hathaway on Keyboards, Phil Upchurch on Guitar, Morris Jennings, Paul Asbell and Jeff Carp on Harmonica. What a find “John Henry” is. CD1 romps home with a total winner - the lord-have-mercy help-with-it-children pleader "You're Gonna Make Me Cry" where Mavis works through a funeral-paced Soul groove helped by Brass Jabs and a funky sway. Fantastic stuff - but unfortunately followed by the rubbish that is "Solon Bushi" - who thought this ending to CD1 was a good idea.
The unreleased goodies continue apace on CD2 with "Tryin' Times" - also by Pops Staples. An unreleased alternate version of Stax STA-0064 - it was co-written by Donny Hathaway and Leroy Hutson and first recorded by Roberta Flack in 1969 on her "First Take" album (Donny did his own version on the "Everything Is Everything" LP in 1971). Pops goes with the slower Flack interpretation of "Tryin' Times" and it's a socially aware bluesy winner. I've played both tracks many times on the shuffle play in the record shop and they've always elicited a customer response. Then on Disc 2 are "The Only Time You Ever Say You Love Me" by Mavis Staples (a gorgeous slow ballad) and a version of "Oh La De Da" without the fake audience participation that appeared on the Stax 0156 single. Both are superb too. Not a lot of unreleased stuff I know, but man the quality of the four is so good...
The mastering has been handled by DUNCAN COWELL at Sound Mastering (it's uniformly excellent throughout - especially on the Fifties and Sixties material), while the chunky 28-page colour booklet is jammed with pictured 45's and adverts and has detailed and informative liner notes by noted Soul writer and aficionado TONY ROUNCE. Between them - they've handled large numbers of Ace and Edsel soul reissues throughout the 2000's - see a TAG above for each giving pictorial displays of their work...
I love The Staples Singers - "I'll Take You There" (lyrics above), "If You're Ready (Come Go With Me)" and the wonderful number one R 'n' B hit "Let's Do It Again" - every song imbibed with their lifelong creed of positive action, love and racial harmony - and music as a healer. It must be said that CD1 with its overtly religious themes for the first 14 or so sides may not be everyone's cup of tea - especially if you're only aware of The Staple Singers sound only via their Stax releases (hence the three to five stars for material). But it is still and impressive listen from start to finish and 'Ultimate' has great audio quality too.
I know there are others that are cheaper - but make no mistake - Ace Records of the UK and their imprint Kent Soul have done the business by The Staple Singers on this twofer. "The Ultimate Staples Singers - A Family Affair 1955-1984" is a fantastic overview of their extraordinary career - buy it and thoroughly enjoy.
PS: see also reviews for the following - "Be Altitude: Respect Yourself" (1972 album on Stax) now 2011 reissued and remastered with bonus tracks as part of the "Stax Remasters" series, the "We'll Get Over" album reissue on CD, the compilation "This Time Around" from 1981 with the fabulous "Trippin' On Your Love" song, the 2015 Stax Box Set "Faith & Grace" (4CDs) which boasts awesome audio but awkward packaging and finally the motherload for lovers of their Stax period - "Come Go With Me: The Stax Collection" from November 2020 - a 6CD Craft Recordings Mini LP Repro Artwork CD Box Set with 6LPs onto 7CDs Plus Singles and Unreleased...
